Pokemon Selling Pokemon (Video Game Data) on Ebay

NoDice

Pancham=PURE AWESOME
Member
Ok, well I guess this is a bit of a discussion piece... sort of. I was looking up nicknames for my shiny Delphox and came across this-

Ebay User Selling Shiny Pokemon

I could have sworn this was against the rules of ebay, and somehow clashed with Nintendo's policies, but I could be mistaken?

Do you think this is ok? I was kind of appalled when I first saw what this person was doing. What are your thoughts? Should this person be reported?

Apologies to the mods if I chose the wrong area to post this topic, wasn't sure if it should be general, VG or something else.
 

Chariblaze

When you add it all up...
Member
RE: SO.... Is This Legal?? (Someone selling shinies on ebay)

Yeah, I came across this stuff a few months ago when I set up an email alert for "Pokemon Y" on eBay ("Pokemon Y 3DS Game" seems to filter out most of them). There's actually a whole subreddit dedicated to this stuff.


Appalled? Absolutely. PB banned trading cards for game data a while back, and it's easy to see why--it's really, really tough to value time for money on as small a scale as individual Pokemon. Besides, something about that idea just feels... wrong. Not sure what else to say, but yeah, I totally wish this didn't happen.

But legal? I don't see how it's any more illegal than those World of Warcraft gold farms that made the news a few years back (er, except that those were sweatshops). If someone chooses to sell the time needed to generate a (hopefully legit) piece of uncopyrighted data, that's their prerogative. Nintendo couldn't change anything if they wanted--unlike stuff they speak out on, like ROMs, this type of data selling is entirely undetectable (at least without a OT blacklist, or legality check if the Pokemon is outright hacked).

Against the rules of eBay? Don't think so, or at least I didn't find anything in my skim of the restricted and prohibited items list.
 

NoDice

Pancham=PURE AWESOME
Member
RE: SO.... Is This Legal?? (Someone selling shinies on ebay)

Chariblaze said:
Yeah, I came across this stuff a few months ago when I set up an email alert for "Pokemon Y" on eBay ("Pokemon Y 3DS Game" seems to filter out most of them). There's actually a whole subreddit dedicated to this stuff.


Appalled? Absolutely. PokéBeach banned trading cards for game data a while back, and it's easy to see why--it's really, really tough to value time for money on as small a scale as individual Pokemon. Besides, something about that idea just feels... wrong. Not sure what else to say, but yeah, I totally wish this didn't happen.

But legal? I don't see how it's any more illegal than those World of Warcraft gold farms that made the news a few years back (er, except that those were sweatshops). If someone chooses to sell the time needed to generate a (hopefully legit) piece of uncopyrighted data, that's their prerogative. Nintendo couldn't change anything if they wanted--unlike stuff they speak out on, like ROMs, this type of data selling is entirely undetectable (at least without a OT blacklist, or legality check if the Pokemon is outright hacked).

Against the rules of eBay? Don't think so, or at least I didn't find anything in my skim of the restricted and prohibited items list.

Yeah, the WoW comparison is a good point, and if e-Bay allows it/Nintendo doesn't care, so be it I suppose?
I guess the better question would be is this ethical? I guess in this day and age, just like with the WoW account scamming and gold farming, there is a market for the data if there are people willing to pay for someone else to do it. Not putting in the time and effort and having an instant pay off is enticing to many.

Heck, I even bought a PowerSaves 3DS TBH, and restarted 200+ Y files just to get 200+ Trainer Shiny Values to Egg Shiny Value match my own flawless bred Pokemon without a middle man. It still requires about the same amount of time and effort as it would finding a random, but I dont have to hatch 300+ eggs each time I want one now.

Having said that, the data this person is selling could entirely be illegitimate, especially now that I know what PowerSaves can do- best case scenario they are clones the person bred themselves, worst case they have been altered by PowerSaves to be shiny and are nicknamed before the code is implemented (since the code changes the OT). I guess no matter what its a fool proof plan, and undetectable by pretty much anyone except other people with PowerSaves and KeySav/MassDumper. Even then its a gamble.


Edit: Thanks for your input though, by the way- as it seems I might have been jumping the gun a bit, but at least we both agree that it is appalling seeing things like this.
 

Pikachu6319

Scooby
Member
RE: SO.... Is This Legal?? (Someone selling shinies on ebay)

I've seen this stuff before. I'm quiet sure it's not illegal. Is it okay...this I'm not quiet sure of. I mean when i get Pokemon I don't soft reset or whatever to get them shiny, get an apprpropriate ability or the 'right' gender. I take them as they are, just like it should be if Pokemon were real...in fact just as we have to take anyone in real life. We can't 'reset' our siblings, friends, or pets until we get what we want.

It's true that I can go capture x number of (for example) Ralts until I get basically what I want, just as I can meet someone and decide I don't want to be friends with them.

Speaking for me, I would never do that. Being shiny means nothing except looking different and I spend very little time worrying about natures, evs, ivs and such. It would make me a poor competitive battler, but that's okay for me.
 

xxashxx

"Pokemon Gotta catch em all Pokemon"
Elite Member
Advanced Member
Member
There was someone here awhile back on this site that was trying to trade Video game Data for the sale of TCG cards. I contacted the mods and he was banned IRC. IRC I think he was from Spain too. Some people from that area of the world think the can do this here. It is illegal here but in other parts of the world it probably is legal. Most areas in our part of the world it is illegal. The person may have special permission or just has not been caught yet.:)
 

Teal

黄前さん らしい ね
Member
He is selling shiny Pokéball pattern Vivillon => these are hacked => this is extremely disgusting.

(It's an event Pokémon so preeetty sure you can't get a shiny one...)
 

Athena

The Cooler Danchou
Advanced Member
Member
Ebay actually used to blanket disallow all sorts of "digital only" auctions/sales, which led to people doing dumb things like hosting auctions for a bunch of WoW gold... and a paper clip. That was changed at some point in the past and they now have a specific policy page for "digitally delivered" goods. One of the things specifically mentioned in the "Not Allowed" section is "Online gaming accounts or artifacts such as characters, currency, or other items in any format." While Pokémon's status as an "online" game may be debatable, these shiny Pokémon sales would be a grey area at best and are more likely to be not allowed entirely. If they've been hacked, then it would most certainly not be allowed.
 

xxashxx

"Pokemon Gotta catch em all Pokemon"
Elite Member
Advanced Member
Member
Yeah see it should only be video game data for video game data but you should not be able to seel even that on the internet. Buying the games from the site is one thing but buying Pokemon or paying to trade Pokemon to someone is so far out wrong in the first place. I am surprised Nintendo has not caught this yet cause doing this I am pretty sure is against their rules as well. Even game data for something other than game data is wrong. If anyone sees this on the internet report it and report it to Nintendo as well. It is that simple. Just report it.:)
 
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